Amanda Fizer plays with 3-year-old Marquita Spading on Thursday at Melrose Day Care. Fizer's job at the Iowa City daycare is made possible through Federal Work-Study Program funding.

Written by

Tara Bannow
| Iowa City Press-Citizen

The kids at Melrose Day Care probably don't realize they're helping their teacher, Amanda Sizer, afford to pay for college.

The University of Iowa junior's job at the Iowa City daycare is made possible through Federal Work-Study Program funding, one of several ways the federal government funnels aid to college students across the country. But if the so-called "fiscal cliff" hits in January, bringing with it nearly $500 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts, higher education institutions like UI would feel it in a big way.